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A. E. SMALL POSITIONING DEVICE FOR CAR COUPLERS Filed April 19. 1926 Jan. 1.0', 19'28.

Patented Jan. 10, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT tlflli'lltlzl'l..

ARTHUR E. SMALL, 0E QAIL SPARK, ILLIOlfB, ASSIGNR TO U .WIEIAL PRGYUTE COMPANY, lllf CHICAGO, ILLINS, A ORPORATIN tll" DELll`WARE.

rosirioivrne :environ aaneen consenties Application filed .April 19, 19526.` Serial. No. 103,068.

This device relates to means for automatically positioning the coupler of a railway car by gravity.

Reference is had to the accompanying,l drawings, 4which illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though itis to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof within the scope of the claims will occur to persons skilled in the art. v

Two lrailway cars are automatically coupled together' by the movement of their' re spective couplers forcing,l the tails of the pivoted knuckles behind gravity loclrs. The couplers are mounted inthe cars so to permit a limited amount of lateral movement. Such limitation is necessary and ef'- sential because if the couplers were allowed to `move too far to* either side7 the couplers of the two cars being coupled would pass each other andn'ot couple, thereby dpfeating the object of the automatic eoupleiu The greater the lateral movement of a coupler the less side pressure on the striking casting when the cars are going around curves. This lateral pressure forces the wheel flanges against the .rail causing considerable friction and wearingl of the rails and wheels.

One of the objects of the invention is to increase the amount of permissible lateral movement of a coupler by providing auto matic means for. retnrning` the couplers to the longitudinal center of the car or at least close enough thereto so that the automatic couplers will couple. This is what is termed the coupling range.

It isvery often necessary to couple cars on curves andfrequently when the radius of the curve is very small, as is common around industrial plants, the couplers of the two cars will be so far. out `of alignment that they will not automaticallyT couple. Another obn ject of "the invention is to automatically bring,v such couplers Within coupling range. rlhe outside rail of a curved tract; is raised above the inside rail andl provide means whereby the coupler is moved toward the insideof the curve by` gravity. This auto- `within coupling range.

matic gravity means also returns the coupler to the longitudinal center of the car when the' car moves from the curved to the straight part of the track.

ln my device the lateral movement be tween the coupler and the carrier is eliminated, thus reducingl friction and consequent wear on the parte.. rlhis is quite an item particularly in sandy countries because couplers are costly andthe replacement of a coupler means keeping the car out of service.

Coupler positioning devices reduces the number of broken knuckles and guard arms on couplers which members are frequently bent or broken when the couplers are not Such devices also reduce the number of accidents to trainmen as they are not required to go between the cars and position the coupler preparatory to coupling.

lt has been found advantageous to have the coupler support cast integral with the striking casting to obtain a four sided member which reinforces the end sill, draft sill and associated parts and my device is especially adaptable to such a combined casting.

ln my co-pending application l have claimed a positioi'lingl `device having` jour naled eccentric rollers with curved surfaces engargillev the associated parte but the inven tion claimed in this application is an imM provement upon such rollers and consists in formingv the member having engagement with the curved surface ot the roller with means to heep the central portion of the curved surface out of contact therewith, so that the journaled roller has a rockingl initial movement and a smooth rolling movement thereafter. The construction increases the elliciency of the device because it will return the coupler nearer to the longitudinal center of the car than a curved surface will do in actual service on account of commercial inequalities and, furthermore, it stabilit/:es the coupler inits central normal position.

ln the drawings:

Fig. l shows a typical application of the device to a railway car.

line 6 6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 shows a modified form. Fig. 8-shows another modified form.-

The striking castingor buffer block 2 is attached to the draft sill 3 or other part of the car body in any suitablemanner and the coupler support 4 is attached thereto or preferably cast integral therewith. 5V rests upon the carriage 6 which engages the-'support in such a manner asto restrict tsinovement longitludi'nally4 rof the car but :permits its movement sidewise of the This isnpreferably accomplished by providing a Ulshapd support having spaced apart wallsA7-'i-8 upon which the carriage moves in' Vone direction but is restricted in its' move'- l mentlongitudinally of the car.

y' yThe carriage is provided with means 16 toyrestrict lateral movement of the Vcoupler relative thereto. One or more rollers l2 are interposed between the' support and the car riage, each of which rollers has a lower curved surface 40fhaving a rolling engagement with the support, the radius 41 of the curved surface"beinggreater than half the depth of the roller so that as itrolls to'one sideitraises the'coupler, as shown in Fig; 4Q This is what is calledan eccentric roller. p The support Vis preferably provided with an'` aperture 42 positioned below the center of the roller, 'so 'that theeurved surface ofthe roller engages .the opposite walls 43-444 of th'e'aperture when the coupler is in its noi `mal:central'position and stabilizes `the cou- Ypler land its support. This hole also acts as a drain toprevent the accumulation of dirt, sand or other material which might clog the device and'prevent its free operation.

f 'lA-he arrangement of the parts in normal andextreme positionsis-shown in Figs; 3

4 'and4.-Figs. 5 and 6 show the roller 12 in detail. y

, *If ``elesi1ecl,ytlie support may be provided with oppositely disposed portions 4546 instead of an aperture which would accomplish the same desiredresults. `Such a constructionis shown in Fig. 7

kThe Vrollers are preferably journaled (52) in. the carriage and havinga rolling eontactf with the l support, as illustrated in Figs. fl-6, inclusi-ve.V Howeveig'the rollers -may `havel rolling contactfwith both the supl port and carriage like shown in Figs. 7fand `8 and apertures (or their equivalentsi may be used to 'co-operate with both rolling sur? faces, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 or with only oneof them,"if desired. One or a plurality of rollers maybe used. y

In F ig. 8 l have shown round eylindri- The' coupler' cal rollers 47 which engage the opposite walls of apertures 48 in curved lower bearing surfaces or tread 49. 'lhe upper part of these rollers engage apertures 50 in the flat bearing surface or tread 5l of the carriage. rlhe various figures show numerous constructions which come within the scope of this invention.

I claim:

l. In a railway car, the combination of a couplersupport, a coupler carriage, one of saidelements having spaced apart portions with a tread on each side thereof, and a roller supporting said carriage upon said support having a curved surface engaging the spaced apart portions on said element whereby the roller is stabilized in its normal central position, the curved surface of the roller engaging one of said treads upon lateral movement of the coupler support.

In a railway car, the combination of a coupler support, a coupler carriage, each of said elements having spaced apart" portions' with a tread on each side thereof, and a roller supporting said carriage upon said support having upper and lower curved surfaces engaging the spaced apartportions on the support and carriage, respectively, whereby the roller is stabilized in its normal central position, the curved surfaces of the roller engaging some of said treads upon lateral movement of the coupler support.

coupler support, a coupler carriage, one of said elements having spaced apart portions with a curved tread on each side thereof, and a roller supporting said carriage upon said support having a curved surface engaging the spaced apart portions on said element whereby the roller is stabilized in its normal central position, the curved surface of the roller engaging one of said treads upon lat-- eral movement of the coupler support.

5. In a railway car, the combination of coupler support, a coupler carriage, one of said elements having au aperture therein forming spaced apart portions with a tread on each side thereof, and a roller supporting said carriage upon said support having a curved surface engaging the spaced apart portions on said element whereby the roller is stabilized in its normal central position` the curved surface of the roller engagingl one of 'said treads upon lateral movement Vof the coupler support.

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a coupler support, a coupler carriage, each oil said elements having an aperture therein 'forming spaced apart portions with a` tread on each side thereof, and a roller supporting said carriage upon said support having upper and lower curved surfaces engaging the spaced apart portions on the Support and curved surfaces of the roller engaging Some 10 of said treads upon lateral movement of the coupler support.

ARTHUR E. SMALL. 

